Neurosystasis mira Wagner & Kvifte, 2017

Kvifte, Gunnar Mikalsen & Wagner, Rüdiger, 2017, Review of Neurosystasis Satchell, with two new species from Cuba and a discussion of cerci and surstyli in Psychodinae (Diptera: Psychodidae), Zootaxa 4306 (1), pp. 81-90 : 83-84

Neurosystasis mira Wagner & Kvifte , sp. nov.

Type material. Holotype male, Cuba, Sierra de Escambray, Profiles , 26 April 1992 leg. Stark. Coll. Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin ( ZMHB).

Diagnosis. Neurosystasis mira sp. nov. can be distinguished from other Neurosystasis species on the following combination of characters: wings infuscate with large translucent spots along margin between wing vein apices; M3 not connected to M1+2; left gonocoxite with an elongate curved lateral lobe with lateral margin smooth, right gonocoxite with a straight and short mesal lobe and an elongate and curved lateral lobe; hypopod with a blunt and setose cercal branch about twice as long as the epandrial branch; with single tenaculum apically on epandrial branch and a tubercle carrying four setiform accessory tenacula on the cercal branch near the base of the epandrial branch; cercal branch apically without tubercles.

Description. Adult male (n=1). Head ( fig. 1 A) wider than long, with large eyes extending to front and lateral; eyebridge of 3 facet rows, distance between eyes two facet diameters; interocular suture incomplete with two broad crescent-shaped extensions of the eyes; occiput narrow with median v-shaped incision; Frons with pair of oval patches of setae; antennae ( fig. 1 B) with inner distal side of scape with bases of approximately 15 setae (androconia); pedicel spherical, shorter than scape; flagellomeres nodiform spindle-shaped, ascoids not discernable, probably several thin digitate ascoids along upper margin of antennomere setation; relative length of antennomeres: 22-17-20-23-25-24-25-24-21-23-21-20-21- terminal segments missing; absolute length: 0.15-0.11- 0.13-0.15-0.17-0.16-0.17-0.16-0.14-0.15-0.14-0.13-0.14- mm; palp of four palpomeres ( fig. 1 C), sclerotization of basal and distal segments weaker than that of segments 2 and 3; relative length of palpomeres: 13-32-33-38; absolute length: 0.09-0.21- 0.22-0.25 mm; thorax: legs with apical tarsomeres modified: in lateral view ( fig. 1 F) with dorsal prolongation; in dorsal ( fig. 1 G) view prolongation consisting of two lateral tips, each with distal seta, between tips a serrate ridge; claws sickle-shaped; pulvilli present as large tufts of setae ( fig. 1 H); wing ( fig. 1 D) infuscate with elongate oval translucent areas between most vein tips; Sc short and sinuous, ends very basal in R1; near tip of Sc is a parallel ‘cross-vein’ with a hardly visible spherical structure with circular apertures ( fig. 1 E); radial fork very basal, close to the incomplete fork R2+3/R4 and basal of medial fork; R5 straight, distinctly wider than other veins, ends in wing tip; four medial veins, faint cross-vein M1+2-M3 present at base of both; CuA basally swollen, CuP short slightly bent; wing length: 3.05 mm; greatest wing width 1.61 mm; Abdomen with 8 segments and inverted genitalia ( fig. 2 C); hypandrium unsclerotized, probably elastic, hardly visible; gonopods and aedeagus asymmetric; gonocoxites dark brown; left gonocoxite ( fig. 2 A) thin, elongate bilobed, strongly bent; posterior lobe longer than anterior, its straight distal part behind bend about 1.5 times longer than basal part; at basal part the short anterior lobe arises whose distal blunt end is curved cranial and ventral to approximate the corresponding but straight lobe of the right gonocoxite; left gonostyle arising near base of gonocoxite, almost translucent, straight, blade-shaped, tip at same level as tip of gonocoxite; right gonocoxite ( fig. 2 B) shorter than left, bilobed with short straight arm pointing towards short dorsally bent lobe of the left gonocoxite; the longer lateral lobe evenly bent with tip pointing right lateral; right gonostyle as well translucent, slightly curved, tip at about same level as left gonocoxite and gonostyle, but much more distal than tip of right gonocoxite; gonocoxites basally connected by posterior lobe of left gonocoxite that turns towards inner lobe of right gonocoxite, and is probably connected as well to the basiphallus; aedeagus ( fig. 2 D) with large calabash-shaped basiphallus; on left side a short strong lobe pointing to the connection of left and right gonostyles; Distally with joints and two long blade-shaped phallomeres, the left one broader, twice as long as the right; morphologically dorsal of the calabash-shaped basiphallus lies a trapezoid transverse sclerite ( fig. 2 G), forming a broad bridge between gonocoxites with medial basal prolongation with a keel; the lateral ends connected to left and right gonocoxite, the thin elongate keel probably connects with the basiphallus; epandrium ( figs 2 E, 2F) subrectangular, slightly narrowing distad, with a pair of narrow transversely oblong apertures in the basal third; lateral margins rolled up; subepandrial sclerite basally not clearly discernable; distal connection with hypopods bilobed; hypoproct with a microsetose ‘nose’, epiproct small, setose; hypopods shorter than epandrium, Y-shaped; stronger mesal cercal lobe blunt, epandrial lobe narrower with single apical tenaculum; cercal lobe with a globular tubercle with 4 elongate straight accessory tenacula near origin of epandrial lobe.

Distribution. Only recorded from the type locality on Cuba.

Biology. Unknown.

Etymology. From latin mira , exceptional, curious. The epithet is to be treated as an adjective and thus conform to the gender of the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Head, wing and tarsus 5 of Neurosystasis mira sp. nov. A. head. B. Scape, pedicel and first three flagellomeres. C. Palp. D. Wing. E. Circular organ of Sc. F. Tarsus 5, lateral view. G. Same, dorsal. H. Same, ventral. Scale bars: 0.1 mm (B, C), 1 mm (D), 0.05 mm (F – H).

FIGURE 2. Male genitalia of Neurosystasis mira sp. nov. A. Left gonopod. B. Right gonopod. C. Habitus of genitalia in dorsal view. D. Aedeagus and parameral complex, ventral view. E. Epandrium and hypopods, dorsal view. F. Same, ventral. G. Aedeagus and gonocoxal condyles, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: bph—basiphallus, c br—cercal branch of hypopod, dph—distiphallus, epa—epandrium, epa br—epandrial branch of hypopod, gcx—gonocoxite, gcx c—gonocoxal condyles, gst—gonostylus, hpr—hypoproct, hyp—hypopod, phm—phallomere, ppo—pseudospiracular openings of epandrium, ses—subepandrial sclerite, ses h j—supepandrial sclerite / hypopod jointing sclerite, t—tenaculum, wat—wart with accessory tenacula.